Uh Oh! US Set To Completely Ban People From Downloading TikTok Starting This Sunday
Source - The U.S. will begin blocking the distribution of the Chinese apps TikTok and WeChat on Sunday, the Department of Commerce said Friday.
Commerce said in a news release that U.S. mobile platforms will be prohibited from distributing the apps, meaning new downloads will be blocked.
But TikTok will not disappear entirely on Sunday. The app will still work for at least a few more weeks. Commerce said that crucial services that TikTok relies on, such as internet hosting and transit services, will not be prohibited until Nov. 12 — pushing the deadline to after the election.
WeChat, however, faces a full ban on Sunday.
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Not great for all the Tokers out there! Especially if they're looking to gain new audience through downloads. The good news is, over 800 MILLION people already have the app so there's plenty of eyeballs to attract. To be completely honest, I haven't been following this story very closely, but from what I gather the government is concerned over the 'privacy and security' of the app because it's owned by a Chinese company...like anyone gives a shit about that. Call me crazy but I think the general consensus is as long as our bank info isn't stolen people don't care. If they did they wouldn't have cell phones.
Here's some more info on the whole situation:
The real shut down would come after Nov. 12 in the event that there is not another transaction," Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said in an interview on the Fox Business Network. "So it’s very different how the two are being handled and that reflects the quantitative and the qualitative differences between the two apps."
Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Apple declined to comment. The apps were the subject of an executive order from President Donald Trump in early August in which Trump said the apps posed a threat to national security.
The new deadline adds more tension to the negotiations currently happening between TikTok's parent company ByteDance and U.S. technology company Oracle. The two companies have been in talks about a deal to mollify the president's concerns.
It'll be interesting to see what happens on Sunday but by and large I don't think anyone will notice a difference in their day to day lives. People have real problems, not being able to download an app where children dance like robots seem pretty low on the totem pole in terms of priorities. Anyway, here's a compilation of funny TikTok fails. Enjoy em while you can…